


As The Storm Clouds Gather

by vic_amy_z



Category: Franklin & Bash
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-22
Updated: 2011-10-22
Packaged: 2017-10-24 20:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/267724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vic_amy_z/pseuds/vic_amy_z
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter, Jared, a hot tub... what more do you want? Total FWP (Fluff Without Plot - as patented by almost_eatable!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	As The Storm Clouds Gather

**Author's Note:**

> Can you have a hot tub as part of an OT3?! I think that someone over at the kink!meme requested a hot tub fic, so I hope that this does the trick. And also, I seem to have found a weather!kink too - go me!

Jared practically kicked the door to the Cave open, feeling irritable with everyone and everything. It had been a really long day, with far too much Damien Karp in it and not nearly enough Peter Bash.

He hated days when he wasn't working with Peter, when cases like this one kept them apart. He tried not to say anything about it because he knew that it would only make him sound like a whiny twelve-year-old girl, but by the end of the day Damien was teasing him mercilessly about missing his other half. Or his _'other two-thirds'_ as Damien had referred to Peter. With hindsight, it might not have been a good idea, but Jared was fairly sure he could convince a jury that Damien had asked for the stapler to be thrown at his head.

The house was cool and quiet - the weather had been incredibly hot and humid for most of the day - and Jared could already feel a few pounds of pressure slipping off his shoulders. 'Hey!' he called out to his housemates, 'Where the hell is everybody?'

'Hey buddy!' Peter yelled back, 'We're out here!'

Jared dumped his bag on the couch and immediately followed the sound of the voices out to the back yard. The sun was low in the sky now, with clouds starting to come across but it was still warm outside. Peter was in the hot tub, a beer in one hand and a court report in the other. Carmen was sitting on the side of the tub dangling her legs in the water as she tried to balance a pile of papers so they didn't end up spilling into the bubbles. Pindar was standing next to them nervously, trying to look like he wasn't thinking about the number of health hazards associated with the great outdoors. Jared grinned and thought about how good it felt to be home again.

'Step into my office, Mr Franklin,' Peter called to him.

'Really? This is your office now?' said Jared, taking a seat on the steps.

'Until Infeld agrees to put a hot tub in _our_ office, yes.' Peter confirmed with a smile.

'I admire your optimism my friend,' Jared laughed. Then he closed his eyes and sighed, feeling a little more of the office stress drain away, along with the heat of the day.

'You've been gone for hours, man. We'd almost given up on you.' There was a touch of concern in Peter's voice.

'Tell me about it.'

'What happened to you?'

'Karp happened to me,' Jared said, knowing that he wouldn't need to elaborate for Peter.

'Ouch...'

'Strange, that's what he said.' Jared smiled to himself at the memory of flying office stationery.

'Want a beer?'

'Hey, it's sweltering, I've been home for almost three minutes and it takes you this long to offer me a drink?' I'm shocked, Peter!' Jared replied with a chuckle. 'I'll go and grab one...' He went to get up.

'No need,' Peter cut in. 'We're a full-service law firm here at Franklin & Bash, where all your beverage needs are taken care of personally by our fully trained staff.' He reached behind Carmen into a cooler that Jared hadn't noticed was there and grabbed a cold beer. Carmen popped the top off and handed the bottle to Jared.

'I'm impressed, Mr Bash,' Jared said, taking a grateful mouthful of the icy cold beer, 'I'll definitely be availing myself your services again.' There was some childish sniggering. 'Okay, so that didn't exactly come out right...' Jared waited for his partner to stop smirking, 'Don't make me throw something at your head, Peter, my aim is unnervingly accurate today!'

'Okay, okay!' Peter held his hands up in submission. 'I'll just bait you later, when you're less cranky. In the meantime, why don't you pull up some paperwork and come and help us with this case?'

Jared scooted over towards Carmen and grabbed a folder. 'Work, work, work...' he sighed dramatically, 'I'm just a machine to you, Peter.'

'Aww... that's not true, buddy. Now shut up and find me a loop hole I can exploit.'

For the next half an hour or so, they all worked together in a way that had become second nature to them; bouncing idea's off each other, exploring scenarios, pulling apart suggestions and coming up with new ones. Jared ran a hand through his hair. He'd already rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned his vest, but in the last heat of the day he still felt sticky and overly warm.

It took him a few minutes to sense that Peter was watching him with interest.

'What?'

'I'm not sure that your current attire fully meets the Franklin & Bash office dress code policy,' Peter said, solemnly.

'If we had a dress code, Peter, wouldn't it prohibit you from walking around naked?' Jared asked without looking up from the report he was reading.

'Something should,' muttered Carmen.

'It's still like seventy-five degrees out here, man. Lose the office look already.'

'The fact that you now want me to take my clothes off is doing nothing to quell my misgivings about you Peter...' He got a 'look' from the hot tub. Jared stood up, loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. 'Fine! Just don't blame me if the sight of my naked body leaves you unable to concentrate on the finer points of the law...'

'Oh no you don't!' Carmen shooed him towards the house, 'It's bad enough having _his_ naked body all over the place,' she jerked her thumb towards Peter, 'I am _not_ putting up with yours too!'

Jared ran laughing into the Cave to escape Carmen's wrath and headed for his room. Stripping off, he had to admit that it did feel good to get out of his suit. He'd planned to change as soon as he'd got in, but typically, he'd managed to get sucked into the world of Peter and had completely forgotten. Grabbing a t-shirt from his closet and a pair of garish shorts that he knew Peter hated, he threw them on before bounding back outside again.

Jared caught Peter's eye as he climbed back up onto the deck, Peter pulled a face at him to let him know that his poor fashion choice had been noted, Jared grinned back and they settled back down to work. Pindar had found a comfortable spot just inside the door where he could sit with his laptop and call out the results of his research, while Jared and Carmen sat side by side on the edge of the hot tub, going over witness statements as the sun finally sank below the horizon. Every so often, Peter would threaten to pull one of them in to cool off, and other disagreements were generally settled by kicking water at each other.

Eventually, as the beer ran low in the cooler and the light started to fade, there was far more drinking and bantering being done than actual work, so Carmen gathered up the papers and said she'd take them inside before they got any wetter or sorrier looking than they were already.

Jared rubbed his arms lightly, handing a folder to Carmen. It seemed like the heat had finally broken. He wondered about heading back inside before it got any cooler.

Carmen yawned and announced, 'I'm gonna go and watch some TV. Night guys,' and she wandered back inside.

Then Pindar stood up and stretched. 'I better go in, I've got an IM chat scheduled tonight.'

'Can you call it a chat if you're only typing with one hand?' Jared called after him, but he obviously wasn't going to rise to the bait tonight. Jared shuffled 'round the side of the tub until he was next to Peter, who leaned his head gently against Jared's leg. Just because it was more comfortable that way. The reassuring weight of his best friend against him served to eradicate any remaining tension Jared was feeling, and with the soft glow of the outdoor lights and the gentle bubbling of the water, he finally felt relaxed.

'Tough day?' Peter asked, looking up at him.

Jared shrugged, 'Nah, nothing I can't handle. Just Damien being an ass.'

'You shouldn't let him get to you.'

'That's easy for you to say, he doesn't pick on you,' said Jared, immediately realising how childish he sounded.

'You want me to steal his lunch money for you?' Peter asked. Jared laughed and smacked Peter affectionately 'round the back of the head. 'Oh you are so paying for that!' Peter said with an evil grin, and before Jared could register what was happening, Peter had grabbed both his ankles and pulled him straight into the hot tub - shorts, t-shirt and all.

When Jared surfaced, coughing out a lungful of water, he found Peter laughing so hard at him that he just couldn't be mad. Damn it - he didn't care what Damien thought about them, being with Peter just made everything better, even when he was in such an annoyingly playful mood! Jared stood up in the hot tub and shivered slightly as a cool breeze played across his wet skin. Clouds were coming in thicker now and it felt like they could be in for a storm.

'You're an ass, Peter!' he grimaced as he pulled his sopping wet t-shirt over his head and Peter whistled at him appreciatively. 'Okay, we really need to get you laid, buddy,' Jared laughed as he threw his t-shirt behind him and sank back into the water, 'You seem fixated on getting me out of my clothes tonight!'

'What?' Peter replied, feigning innocence. 'No, if I was _really_ fixated, I'd do this.' And he dived under the water...

'Fuck!' Jared yelled. He kicked out instinctively with his legs and tried to move away from Peter, but unfortunately, the hot tub just wasn't that big. He cursed himself for not getting out earlier when he'd had the chance.

Just as Jared's feet found some purchase and he was attempting to scramble over the side, Peter grabbed hold of his legs and pulled him back in again. His head went under and he managed to grab hold of the waistband of his shorts as he felt two strong hands on his hips.

He was able to get his head above water long enough to yell, 'Get off me, you...!' before he got pulled under again. It was then Jared realised that he could either hold onto his dignity, or he could breathe, but he couldn't do both. Reluctantly, he slid out of both Peter's grasp and his clothes. Surfacing again, he was greeted by the sight of Peter holding the shorts over his head like a prize, laughing as Jared blinked the water out of his eyes.

'Okay, you win,' Jared gasped, half laughing and half choking, 'Now give them back.'

'Nope, I can't. They're a crime against fashion. I think I'm going to have them taken out and shot!' Peter started twirling them, looking dangerously like he was about to throw them somewhere.

'Dude, I'm naked here! Don't even think about...' Jared didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence before his last remaining piece of clothing was flying through the air and out of sight. Okay, so he probably wasn't getting out any time soon then.

'There, now you can truly relax in the way that man was meant to,' Peter nodded.

Jared raised an eyebrow at his friend. 'What, naked in a hot tub? With another dude?'

'Hey, who said that _I_ was naked?'

'I know you, Peter. You're a man slut - of course you're naked!'

'Yeah well, okay... But still, cheap shot.' Peter pretended to look hurt so Jared childishly splashed water at him until he couldn't help but grin.

They chatted for a while about anything and everything, just comfortable in each other's company. The clouds continued to roll in and Jared was grateful for the warmth of the water as the breeze picked up. Peter sprawled languidly with his laid his head back against the side of the tub, arms spread wide, while Jared was perched uncomfortably on the edge of one of the seats, hugging his knees up to his chin. He really hoped that Peter wouldn't notice.

'What's with you tonight?'

'Huh?' It was Jared's turn to feign innocence.

'The whole point of a hot tub is to chill out, relax, unwind. And foreplay, obviously. But you're balanced on the edge there like you forgot your water wings or something. How wound up did Damien get you today?'

'It's nothing to do with Damien,' Jared said, only half lying. 'I'm fine, really.' Peter gave him another one of his looks. Sometimes Jared hated the fact that they could have an entire conversation without ever opening their mouths. 'All right, fine. But it's not my fault. If you weren't taking up so much damn room, I wouldn't have to be over here in the deep end!'

Peter burst out laughing. 'Jared, our hot tub does not have a deep end!'

'It does!' Jared said, indignantly, 'The seats are way lower on this side, making it the deep end!'

'Yeah but they're not low enough to... I mean...' he could see Peter trying to do the math.

'Oh really? Care for a demonstration?' Jared pulled his feet out from underneath him, took a deep breath and sat back down on the seat, slouching to make his point. The water rose up over his mouth and nose, until he was just a pair of eyes peeking above the surface of the water.

He expected to see Peter laughing at him again, but his friend seemed to be looking at him like he was adorable. Peter floated over towards Jared, took hold of his arms and raised him the necessary few inches so he could breathe again.

In a split second, Jared saw it in his head - like some sort of flash-forward to what should have happened next: _Peter should have laughed at him and called him an idiot; then Jared should have told Peter to get out of his personal space, made some comment about how he could keep his nakedness to himself and given him a playful shove; then they should have settled down again in more suitable seats, maybe split the last beer and carried on talking about nothing in particular, like they always did._

But when Jared found himself held by Peter, the hands on his shoulders pressing him firmly up against the side to stop him from slipping back down again, none of that happened. Jared swallowed hard, staring into deep brown eyes that seemed to be looking at him for the first time. The air between them crackled with intensity and somewhere in the distance there was a soft rumble of thunder.

What did happen was that Peter kissed him. Softly at first, and Jared was almost too dazed to react. Peter pulled back; his eyes seemed to be searching Jared's face for any sign that this wasn't okay. And up until a few seconds ago, Jared would have said that it really wasn't, but now suddenly it was. It was very okay. Jared leaned forward to return the kiss and Peter slipped his arms around him, half in embrace and half to hold Jared up from sinking below the surface again. The thunder rumbled again.

It was an awkward position to hold and there was a far more obvious move to be made, so Jared plucked up the courage to make it. Without breaking their kiss, Jared twisted their bodies around through a hundred and eighty degrees until Peter was sitting back on the seat and Jared was kneeling over him. As Peter wrapped his arms firmly around him and pulled them together, Jared was suddenly very aware that they were both very naked, but couldn't bring himself to do anything about it at that precise moment because Peter's tongue was in his mouth and all he could think about was how good it felt to be kissing his best friend.

When the kiss finally broke, they were both breathing heavily and something about the grin that broke out on Peter's face made Jared's stomach flip.

'Not that I'm complaining,' Peter said softly, his forehead pressed against Jared's, 'but I don't think that this comes under 'chilling out', 'relaxing' or 'unwinding'.'

'No, we seemed to have skipped those and moved straight on to the foreplay,' agreed Jared with a small laugh, 'but I'm told that it's still an officially sanctioned use of a hot tub.'

'Well, that's okay then...' Peter captured Jared's mouth and brought them both together in another bruising kiss. The thunder rumbled closer this time and although the breeze was getting colder, the parts of Jared's body that were pressed against Peter felt like they were on fire. They moved together with their hands tangled in each other's hair in a way that Jared thought might end up getting at least one of them off right there.

With another rumble of thunder, the storm finally arrived and the soft patter of raindrops soon turned into a downpour.

'We should really get inside,' Peter murmured against Jared's lips, although not letting go of him.

'I don't think that we can get any wetter.' The cold rain falling hard against Jared's skin made him shiver a little, but he couldn't imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

The next clap of thunder brought a flash of lightning with it.

'Okay, now we really have to get inside,' Peter insisted.

Jared nodded, smiling at his friend's concerned look and reluctantly pulled himself away from their embrace. He made a move to get out and then stopped abruptly and sat down again. 'Um... Peter?' he looked over at the other man and felt a blush rising on his cheeks, despite the chill of the rain. 'I'm not sure I can get out just yet. Y'know...' He cast his eyes down.

Peter looked confused for a second and then it dawned on him that he was having the same dilemma. They sat opposite each other, looking sheepish. 'Well look at it his way,' Peter offered, 'The longer we stay in here, the more likely we are to get hit by lightning and die a horrible death!'

Jared sat for a few seconds longer and played that thought through his head. 'Okay,' he said, brightly, 'That ought to do it!' They both scrambled out of the hot tub and up onto the deck.

'And all my current plans hinge on both of us being very much alive,' Peter teased, coming up behind Jared and slipping his arms around his waist.

Jared couldn't help but lean into the touch, luxuriating in the feel of skin on skin as the rain continued to fall. 'Oh, that's so not helping right now,' he grinned.

They headed for the door but before Peter could get in, Jared had stopped again.

'What now?' Peter turned around, holding his arms out to indicate the torrential rainstorm as if Jared might not have noticed. 'Do you have a death wish?'

'No, it's just...' Jared could feel himself blushing again. 'As no-one around here is smart enough to actually bring a towel outside and our clothes are... elsewhere. Could you...?' he pointed inside, hoping that Peter would catch on.

'Oh! Hold on...' Peter stuck his head around the door. 'No, it's okay, you're all clear.' They both slipped inside, shaking off the water that was beading their skin and giving them both goose bumps. 'Well, my room's closest...' Peter began.

'Oh, I'm so ahead of you,' Jared was already off in that direction. Which mean he was very much in the lead when he discovered that Carmen wasn't in her room at all, and was actually lying on the couch reading a book.

She lowered it carefully as she watched them cross the room. 'Hey Jared. Cold out?' she asked, conversationally, the smallest of smiles tugging at her lips.

'Yeah, little bit.' Jared responded calmly, looking straight ahead and walking towards Peter's room as if nothing was out of the ordinary. As they reached the door, Jared spoke to Peter without turning around, 'You knew she was there, didn't you?'

'Yeah, little bit.'

'I hate you so much right now.' Jared walked into his best friend's bedroom, grinning so hard that his face hurt.

'Want me to make it up to you?' Peter offered, and closed the door behind them.

 **~END~**


End file.
